The following is the text of an IBM Data Processing
Division press release headlined “IBM Announces
Larger-Capacity System/7, Enhanced Capabilities for Sensor-Based
Applications,” and distributed on July 31, 1973.
A new, larger-capacity model [Model E] of the IBM System/7,
enhanced communications and stand-alone programming
capabilities -- which broaden the scope of sensor-based
applications -- were announced today by International
Business Machines Corporation.
Modular in design, System/7 is IBM’s lowest-cost
computer. It is a rugged and highly reliable system
that can measure, test, analyze and control industrial
and laboratory events as they are happening.
The new model’s significantly expanded memory
of up to 65,536 words (16 bits) can allow users in a
wide range of industries to run either several small
applications, or a single large one -- without the need
for a “host” computer.
Also announced for use with System/7 were:
- Optional binary synchronous communications for
more reliable transmission of data at high speeds.
- Stand-alone program preparation facilities allowing
System/7, for the first time, to generate its own
programs using basic and higher-level languages.
- Availability of FORTRAN IV and System/7 Application
Module Library (AML/7), program products which significantly
reduce application implementation time.
- New input-output modules which allow economical
attachment of up to 384 analog sensors -- triple the
number handled previously.
The combination of large memory and increased capabilities
makes the new System/7 model even better suited to function
as a stand-alone computer for monitoring and controlling
a variety of user tasks, such as manufacturing production
lines, materials handling, continuous petroleum and
chemical processes, laboratory automation of testing
devices, and electrical power generation.
The new memories, which range in size from 16,384 to
65,536 words in 4,096-word increments, use extended
bipolar circuitry with each chip holding 1,024 data
bits -- eight times more than chips on earlier System/7
models. This advanced technology will permit additional
memory increments to be installed quickly on-site in
the new processor module as users expand their sensor-based
applications.
Current users of System/7 will find it easy to step
up to the larger-capacity model since it is fully compatible
with the earlier processors and uses the same operator
station and input-output modules. The modules perform
all necessary analog-digital conversions and control
the flow of data between the processor and sensing devices.
The new processor provides all the functions of previous
models -- including a 400-nanosecond storage cycle time.
It also offers new hardware features for use in advanced
customer applications -- including a storage protection
capability, which prevents changes from being made to
data or programs stored in user-specified memory segments.
The binary synchronous communications adapter (BSCA)
feature will permit users to communicate at high speeds
-- up to 50,000 bits per second -- with a System/370,
a System/3 or another System/7 having the BSCA feature.
A remote System/7, for example, could quickly provide
a larger IBM host computer in a company’s corporate
headquarters with up-to-the-minute data on field operations
for management analysis. The System/7 also could have
access to the host computer’s data base for its
own applications. In addition, the BSCA permits a program,
prepared by the host computer, to be transmitted and
loaded in the System/7.
Program preparation facilities that previously ran
only on host systems have been made available for System/7,
further expanding the computer’s flexibility to
operate independently. A new version of Modular System
Programs/7 (MSP/7) contains several enhancements --
including a new real time facility called Simultaneous
Disk Services. This facility increases the computer’s
performance by enabling data to be entered into or retrieved
from a disk module while the System/7 is executing an
application program.
FORTRAN IV and AML/7, program products which operate
with MSP/7, simplify the task of preparing new applications
by allowing a user to write programs in high-level languages.
Prices and Delivery
First customer shipments of the new model and MSP/7
will be scheduled to begin in December of this year.
[1973]
Because of the high degree of modularity available
to System/7 users, prices will vary depending on configurations.
Monthly rental for a typical system -- including a processor
with 16,384 words of memory, a sensor input-output module,
a disk module, an IBM 5028 operator station -- will
be about $1,600 with a purchase price of about $64,000.
Additional memory increments of 4,096 words rent for
$135, or can be purchased for $4,725.
FORTRAN IV will be scheduled for delivery in December
1973 under a license agreement at a monthly charge of
$80. AML/7 will be scheduled for delivery in March 1974
under a license agreement at a one-time charge of $600.
The new System/7 model will be manufactured at IBM’s
General Systems Division facilities in Boca Raton, Florida,
where it was developed.
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